


If Only He Knew

by ihidemycrazy



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Bets & Wagers, F/M, Pining Clarke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-13 00:46:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7955536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihidemycrazy/pseuds/ihidemycrazy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke and Bellamy are roommates, and it's killing Clarke. The close quarters, Bellamy's disinclination to wear shirts - all of it is making her feelings for him harder and harder to deal with.</p><p>So she decides to make him realize that he's in love with her too. With Octavia's help, she sets Operation: Make Bellamy Realize He Loves Clarke in motion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Only He Knew

Clarke pushed her reading glasses further up her nose before her fingers returned to her keyboard. She’d been working furiously for over two hours and it was only 8 AM. This was the most productive she could remember being in weeks. 

Bellamy walked out of his room wearing nothing but pajama bottoms and immediately headed toward the fridge. As he rifled through it, Clarke admired the way to muscles rolled beneath his skin. 

This is why she was able to get so much writing done this morning: it’s easier to write about a sexually frustrated teenager when she felt like one herself.

She though living with Bellamy would be just, you know, fine. She figured they’d bicker a bit, but no more than usual, and maybe he’d lecture her about the fact that her diet consisted primarily of Taco Bell. 

But she really didn’t expect to feel this tug every time he walks into a room or consider sneaking into his bed every night around midnight. 

Like, she’d known he was hot. Obviously. She just thought she might not be entirely susceptible to it. She had known the Blakes for nearly a decade and Bellamy’s hotness had never before come into play. Clarke had her own stuff going on, and Bellamy was her friend’s older brother. She is (or was) very good at compartmentalizing and knew better than to let herself be attracted to Bellamy.

Apparently extended close contact with Bellamy made that compartmentalizing part of her brain break down. 

Because she really wanted to fuck him. And, like, wear his clothes and kiss his nose and twirl his hair through her fingers. 

It was bad. Particularly because she was almost certain his feelings toward her had not changed. He still acted like she was a little sister. He keeps ruffling her hair. Ugh.

But even though her romantic life was plummeting, her writing was soaring. Apparently unrequited love is a relatable feeling, although Clarke’s fanfiction generally had a happy ending. There were too many unhappy endings in canon and in Clarke’s own life, so she felt like she needed to balance the scales a bit.

“How’s the writing going?” Bellamy asked in between sips from the orange juice container. 

“Very well, thanks,” she smiled back at him without looking away from her computer screen.

“Why aren’t you painting? You usually seem to express yourself that way.”

Clarke actually looked away from her screen at that. “I like the community that comes with fanfiction. It’s more instant gratification than a painting. Also, less messy.” She gestured to her body with her hand to indicate her relative cleanliness, then blushed and turned back to her laptop. 

Bellamy nodded in response, then began whistling as he looked through the cabinets. “Any chance you want some pancakes?”

“Uh, yes. Always. Especially if they’re chocolate chip.” She closed her laptop and ambled over toward the kitchen counter.

“I’d ask if you wanted to help, but I want pancakes, not burnt disks of batter,” he teased her.

She stuck out her tongue at him. “Rude, but I’m not willing to risk the pancakes to prove you wrong.”

Clarke couldn’t stop grinning as she watched her beautiful roommate make her pancakes.

…

Bellamy came home from work to find Clarke on the couch where he left her, still wearing her pajamas from this morning. 

“God, what I wouldn’t give for your four day on- four days off ER schedule,” he sighed as he shrugged out of his coat. 

“You only ever say that during the four days off part.”

He smiled, “I say it during the other part too, but four days on means I don’t see you for four days, so you just aren’t here to experience it.”

He flopped down next to her on the couch and laid his head on her shoulder. “Whatcha writing?”

Clarke quickly closed her laptop, “Nothing good.”

Bellamy frowned, but didn’t comment. Clarke was usually more open about her writing and her art. Actually, she was super open with him about everything. He knew what it meant when she was laying on the ground and had experienced her rapping the entirety of Eminem’s “Just Lose It” just to make him feel better one day. 

So if she didn’t want to talk about something, he was going to change the subject. “O might come over later tonight.”

“Ah, we’re her first choice now that Lincoln’s in Thailand, huh?” Clarke smiled.

Bellamy glared at her for a second then sighed, “Yeah. Seems like it.”

Clarke bumped his shoulder with her own, “Oh shut up, you know you’ll always be her favorite. Lincoln being in Thailand just gives her more time to spend with you.”

He smiled and cuddled further into her side. “You’re kind of the best roommate I’ve ever had. Did you know that?”

Clarke shrugged, “I figured. Who else is a big enough mess that they don’t protest your need to take care of people? My incompetence is really just doing you a favor.”

Bellamy’s eyes were falling shut and he mumbled, “You know that’s not what I meant.”

She lightly patted his chest, “I know.”

But Bellamy had already passed out and didn’t respond. Clarke shifted so she could lay on the couch and slowly let Bellamy’s head rest on her chest. Clarke languidly ran her fingers through his hair, watching him raise and lower with her breaths. Soon, she was also asleep.

She awoke to the bang of Octavia slamming their front door closed behind her. Bellamy startled and found himself wrapped around Clarke. He hastily sat up and noticed Clarke’s blush, but quickly turned his attention to Octavia. 

“Don’t you knock?”

“Well, I did, but you assholes were asleep so I just let myself in to make sure you hadn’t been murdered. You can thank me later,” she grinned.

Bellamy rolled his eyes, but hopped off the couch and enveloped his little sister in a hug. Over Bellamy’s shoulder, Octavia raised her eyebrows and mouthed, “Get some.”

Clarke shook her head and made her way into the kitchen. She grabbed two boxes of mac and cheese out of the cabinet and began boiling water on the stove. 

Octavia walked in and exclaimed, “Oh my God! Bellamy, I think I’m having a stroke! It looks like Clarke knows how to boil water!”

Clarke snorted, “Like you’d do so great on Chopped.”

“Maybe, but Bellamy stopped making all my meals for me when I was 18. How old are you again?”

“I miss Lincoln. He calmed down your snarkiness to reasonable levels,” Bellamy said as he followed Octavia in. 

“Hate to break it to you Bell, but this is all just pent up sexual frustration. The skype connection between here and Thailand is woefully inadequate for my needs,” Octavia grinned before sliding onto the countertop.

Bellamy slapped his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, his classic overreaction to any mentions of Octavia’s sex life.

“Of course you went with making Bellamy uncomfortable instead of commenting on the fact that he just said he missed your boyfriend. Your giant, motorcycle-riding, tattoo-ridden boyfriend. He’s made tremendous progress,” Clarke remarked. 

“Well, he is giant,” Octavia said while holding her hands a fair distance apart in front of her to indicate just how big.

Bellamy threw his hands up. “That’s it! I’m out. Come get me from my room when the mac and cheese is ready.”

Octavia and Clarke laughed, but as soon as they heard his door close, Octavia turned to Clarke and said, “So? What did I walk in on? Because if you guys are going to bang, I can take my mac and cheese to go.”

Clarke shook her head, “You know that’s not going to happen. Bellamy isn’t into it.”

“At least you’re admitting you’re into him. Took you long enough. But that’s obviously because you’re dumb. Exhibit A: you think Bellamy isn’t into you.”

“He’s not! He keeps ruffling my hair like I’m five years old,” Clarke protested.

“Well, then you’re both idiots. Match made in heaven.”

Clarke just sighed and dumped the boxes of pasta into the boiling water.

“Like seriously Clarke, just make a move. I truly believe it’ll work out,” Octavia said, grabbing her hand.

Clarke rolled her eyes, “I don’t even know what kind of move to make! Do I just blurt out that I love him? Or do I get naked and wait in his bed for him? Do I spell it out in fucking rose petals in the hallway? Octavia, just tell me how to do this.”

Octavia’s eyebrows pulled together, “I don’t think I’m the best person to tell you how to seduce my brother.”

Clarke grabbed her hands. “Please, you’ve gotta help me. Just pretend that it’s not your brother. What should I do?”

Octavia groaned, “I don’t know! Just do small things and maybe he’ll get the hint eventually. Like, hang around the house in tiny clothes. Reach for things on high shelves when you know he’s looking at you. Touch him a lot. Casually mention sometime that you’re not wearing underwear.”

Clarke laughed, “Seriously? Will that work?”

Octavia shrugged. “He already knows your brain and personality. Maybe he just needs to be reminded that you’re super hot.”

Clarke nodded. “Okay. I think I can do that. I might embarrass the hell out of myself, but I think I can do it.”

The next morning, Clarke started Operation: Make Bellamy Realize He Loves Clarke. Kind of a long title, but she wasn’t planning on ever saying it out loud, so she wasn’t concerned. 

Her bare feet slapped against the tile as she wandered her way into the kitchen, wearing only a t-shirt and a pair of underwear that read “NAUGHTY” across the ass. Raven had got them for her as an installment of their running theme of buying the other embarrassing underwear for every holiday. 

Bellamy didn’t look up from his paper when she walked in, only murmuring “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” she cheerily replied.

She felt her shirt ride up as she reached for a bowl on the top shelf, and heard Bellamy choke on his coffee behind her. Her hair whipped over her shoulder as she turned to face him.

“You okay?”

He continued to cough, but waved at her not to worry. “I’m… fine. Just… can’t …breathe. Burned…windpipe.”

Clarke came up behind him and soothingly rubbed his back. She made sure that her breast “accidentally” grazed his bicep while she did it, and after a minute, his coughing stopped. He gave her a quick up-down and asked, “Aren’t you, I don’t know, cold?”

Clarke rolled her eyes and made her way back to the other side of the counter. Apparently the operation was going to be more of a long-game. “It’s September, Bell. That means enough heat that you don’t have to wear pants. Which is convenient, considering I need to do laundry and am out of pants.”

Bellamy silently walked into his bedroom, and came back out holding a pair of his sweatpants. “Here, put these on.”

“Seriously?”

He just nodded.

“Okay, dad.” She took the pants and walked back to her bedroom. She needed to text Octavia.

Clarke: It’s not working 

Octavia: What do you mean? It hasn’t even been ten hours.

Clarke: He told me to cover up.

Octavia: Maybe he’s just trying not to objectify you? Idk my brother’s a werido. Don’t give up!

Clarke tossed her phone onto her bed and fell after it. This was going to be more work than she thought.

At least Bellamy’s sweats smelled like him. 

…

It was Thursday night before Clarke tried anything again.

“Bellamy!” she yelled from her room. “Come quick!”

He burst into her room carrying a bat, but when he saw Clarke, both his bat and his jaw dropped. She was standing in the middle of her room in lingerie and five inch heels, holding two dresses on hangers.

“I’m going out with Raven and Octavia tonight and I can’t decide what to wear.”

Bellamy rubbed his hand over his face, “Jesus, Clarke, I thought there was an emergency!”

“There is! Green or blue?”

Bellamy sighed, “Put them on, let me see.”

Clarke grinned and threw the blue dress over her head, shimmying the fabric over her thighs.

“That’s the dress. I can’t imagine anything could look better than that,” Bellamy smiled.

Clare bit her lip, “Yeah?” She did a little twirl and Bellamy laughed.

“Yeah, but don’t go getting a big head Griffin,” he grinned and walked out of her room.

“Thanks, Bellamy!” she called after him.

Clarke: Second installment of Op: MBRHLC far more successful than first!

Octavia: !!!!!

Clarke finished getting ready and walked out to Bellamy sitting on the couch in the living room. 

He looked up, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Clarke smiled back. “We’re just going to go to Grounders for a few hours, shouldn’t be back too late.”

He nodded, “Okay, keep an eye on O for me, would you? It’ll make me feel better to know you’re looking out and it’ll make her feel better that I didn’t tell her directly to be careful.”

“Okay, Bell, I will. But just so you know, I look out for her and Raven anyway. That’s what friends do.”

He smiled, “Yeah, I know. It just makes me feel better to ask.”

…

Clarke threw back her third shot in tandem with Raven and Octavia. 

“I just don’t understand how he hasn’t jumped you already. Everyone in this bar wants to jump you in that dress,” Raven said.

“Right? I’m like, putting on a show for him and he’s hardly responding. Raven didn’t even have to try and he slept with her.”

Raven nodded, “True. But he didn’t love me, so there’s the difference.”

“Well, you’d think if he loved me, he’d also want to have sex with me so,” Clarke said, frustrated.

Octavia interjected, “Bellamy’s probably just trying to be a gentleman. He thinks you’ve friendzoned him so hard that you don’t mind if he sees you in your underwear. You have to take it to the next step. Actively seduce him. Just walk up to him and kiss him, for Christ’s sake.”

Clarke looked between Raven and Octavia. “Should I? Like, right now?”

Octavia yelled, “Yes! Finally, Griffin’s got some balls!”

Clarke went to stand up, then sat back down at the bar. “I need two more shots.”

Raven signaled the bartender, and two shots later, Raven and Octavia were following her home, singing the Rocky theme song. 

“Shush, you guys, the windows are probably open. He could hear you!” 

That only made Octavia yell louder, “Big brother, get ready to get laid tonight!”

Clarke and Raven laughed. “Do you know how wrong that sounds?”

Octavia waved them off, “I want to call my boyfriend.”

Clarke turned to Raven, “You good to get her home?”

Raven nodded, then winked at her, “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Clarke smacked a kiss on her cheek.

“Get home safe!” she yelled after her friends as they stumbled away.

She slowly worked her way up the stairs, careful not to trip and fall. She had a little trouble with her keys, but she finally got the door open. Bellamy was still on the couch, looking just incredible with his glasses on and his pajamas.

She paused in the hallway and just smiled.

He caught her staring and asked, “Have a good time?”

She slowly started walking toward him and nodded, still smiling. She noticed he was smiling too, and it spurred her confidence. She lightly grabbed the book he was reading when she reached him, and put it face down on the coffee table. 

“What’re you doing, Clarke?” Bellamy asked, slightly concerned, but mostly amused.

She giggled and slid onto his lap, her dress pushing up her thighs. 

“Clarke…” Bellamy said again warningly.

“Shh…” Clarke whispered, stroking Bellamy’s jaw with her thumb.

With drunken confidence, Clarke kissed him. It was soft and slow, a mixture of Clarke’s drunkenness and Bellamy’s confusion. His confusion passed though, and he opened his mouth to her. She took that as a sign and began to kiss him more fervently and, for a moment, he responded in kind. 

But as soon as her fingers began to lift the hem of his shirt, he stopped her. “Clarke, you’re drunk. We can’t do this.”

Clarke sat back and pouted, “I’m not that drunk.” Then she yawned. “Maybe just a little sleepy.”

Bellamy smiled, “You’re cute. But I really think you need to go to bed.”

Clarke continued to pout, “But I wanted to go to bed with you.”

“Would sleeping in my bed really make you feel that much better?”

Clarke sighed, “You know that’s not what I meant. But, yeah, I do want to sleep in your bed too.”

Bellamy smiled, “Okay, then let’s go.”

He picked her up and carried her into her bedroom, placing her softly on his bed. He rifled around his drawers and pulled out a big t-shirt that would fit like a dress on Clarke. He handed it to her, “Put this on. I’ll be right back.”

Clarke switched into the shirt and sighed happily when it smelled like Bellamy. He came back soon with two advil and a glass of water and handed them to her.

“God, you look nice in my clothes.”

Clarke shrugged, “I look better out of them.”

Bellamy laughed, “I know. Another time. Take the advil, drink some water.”

She did as instructed, then scooted under the covers. She patted the spot beside her and asked, “You coming?”

He took off his shirt and got in bed next to her.

“God, do you have to look like that?” Clarke whined. “You’re such a tease.”

Bellamy laughed and wrapped his arm around her. “Go to sleep, Clarke.”

She snuggled in closer, pressing her nose into his skin. “So bossy.”

“Shh…”

The next morning, Clarke startled awake, finding her legs tangled with Bellamy’s as his chest slowly rose and fell with each breath. She just stared at him for a moment, confused. Her memory from the night before was spotty, but they were both mostly dressed, so she wasn’t quite sure what happened. 

But then it began to slowly come back to her. 

“Oh, shit,” she whispered, slowly disentangling himself from him and tiptoed out of the room, grabbing a pair of his sweats on her way out. She slipped them on and grabbed her phone off the coffee table, where it lay next to Bellamy’s open book. Her hair was all over the place, so she threw it on top of her head in a messy bun. She knew she probably had makeup smeared all over her face, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment. She hurried out the front door and called Raven from the hallway.

“Uh-oh,” Raven said as soon as she picked up. “I definitely thought you and Bellamy would be locked away for the weekend and I wouldn’t see you until Monday. What happened?”

“Well, like an idiot, I totally threw myself at him, and he just told me I was too drunk and made me go to bed.”

“What a gentleman,” Raven responded. 

“The gentlemanly thing to do would be to do what I wanted and fuck me,” Clarke mumbled.

“C’mon, Clarke. You know you don’t mean that. You don’t want to be drunk for your first time with Bellamy. And he would’ve totally felt like he was taking advantage of you. Be reasonable.”

Clarke sighed, “I know. I’m just feeling very embarrassed. Maybe it would’ve been better if I had just said something instead of just acting like a horny teenager.”

“And what would you have said?” Clarke whipped around toward the sound.

Bellamy was behind her, leaning against the doorframe, still shirtless.

“Raven, I’m going to have to call you back,” she said quickly before ending the call.

“So, am I wearing the only shirt you own?” she asked.

He grinned, “You’re avoiding the question.”

“So are you. You could probably sell some of your books for clothes money if you’re really that strapped.”

“Clarke,” he grabbed her hands, which she just realized had been flying around like she was a lunatic. “Just tell me.”

She played with his hands for a minute before saying, “I don’t know why I have to say it; you obviously already know.”

He smiled and said, “Well, maybe I just want to be sure. Don’t be stubborn.”

“Fine, I love you, okay? Happy now?” 

He quickly kissed her and she could feel his smile against her lips. “I love you too,” he murmured against her mouth. 

She pulled away for a second and said, “Can I ask you something?”

He nodded before moving to kiss her neck. She giggled again and felt a little bit more like a schoolgirl than she had ever before. 

“Was that all I needed to do? If I had told you I love you weeks ago, you would’ve been equally excited about it?”

He broke away from his ministrations for a moment to say, “For sure.”

“So you just wanted to see how much of an idiot I could make of myself?”

She felt him smile against her neck before pulling back. “A little bit, yeah. I also had a bet going with Octavia that I could get you to admit you loved me first.”

Clarke gasped and smacked his shoulder. “Seriously? And that’s why she told me to prance around in my underwear. And that's why you haven't worn a shirt in days! God, I hate you guys.”

He grinned, “Yeah, but maybe you want to continue this inside? There are beds there.”

“Oh, so you don’t want to put on a show for all of our neighbors? I’m sure they also had bets going as well,” she smirked. 

He swooped her up in his arms, bridal-style, and made her squeal. “Is this going to become a regular thing?” she asked.

“You bet your ass it is.”

…

Raven: So I guess you’re not going to call me back for a while, huh?

Raven: YES CLARKE, GET IT!

Octavia: Jesus, Clarke, I lost $50 because of you. 

Lincoln: I’m supposed to be angry at you for making O lose the bet, but I’m happy for you. Just don’t tell O.

Octavia: I’d also like to say I told you so.

**Author's Note:**

> Haven't written anything in a while, so sorry if it's not quite up to par. I might write it from Bellamy's POV if anyone's interested in that. And if I don't want to keep studying for the LSAT.
> 
> [Bellamy's POV](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9354440)


End file.
